Now that we are (almost!) to the winter break where teachers will have a chance to rest and get well I want to throw one more idea your way in case you find a little time to prep some emergency Sub plans over the break (which I highly recommend!) You’ll start the new year with a feeling of security having these well thought out sub plans just waiting in their drawer ready to be deployed.

For my final installment in this series I will propose an oldie but a goodie; the jigsaw.

The basic tenet of the jigsaw is that each child (or group) has exclusive access to a piece of content. They then become the ‘expert’ on that content and come together to make the ‘pieces’ of the jigsaw come together.

I like this model because it builds social and communication skills, can be easily differentiated for various reading levels and packs a lot of content information into a manageable bite for each individual. It’s also way more engaging than a teacher telling you all the information.

I’ll give you an example from my classroom. We’ve been studying energy and it’s many possible sources. We had experimented with how wind turbines, water wheels and solar panels worked and were synthesizing learning about energy. Here were the steps of the jigsaw

I gave groups of 3 students of a similar reading level a passage about a certain type of energy (wind, water, coal, oil, etc.) and had them get together, read the passage and come up with a plan about how to orally share the drawbacks and benefits of their type of energy with the class.

I gave students work time and circulated, encouraging them to make a plan for presentation, whatever that looked like. Some took notes on whiteboards, some practiced aloud their presentation

I created a large comparison chart at the front of the room and had the groups come up tot he front and present their information while I took notes on the poster

Individual students were then asked to select two types of energy they’d learned about (one renewable, one non renewable) and compare their drawbacks and benefits in a paragraph. We had been working on opinion writing so many chose to write an opinion about which energy source was better

I hope this and the other posts I’ve shared will help you form some of your own sub plans that can keep your students engaged and moving forward even while you rest in bed.

A bilingual elementary educator with experience in K-3 bilingual and sheltered instruction classrooms.Passionate about serving students and families historically disenfranchised including ELL and those experiencing poverty.Mentor for new teachers, National Board Cohort Facilitator and ESD113 ELA fellow. Committed to advancing equity and social justice for all people.

The opinions expressed by the CORElaborate Bloggers, guest bloggers and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of the Puget Sound Educational Service District (PSESD), Ready Washington or any employee thereof. PSESD is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied by the Washington State Teacher Leader or Guest Bloggers.

Comments

Yes, thank you for another great idea. I also like the poster idea because it builds some accountability and followup into the process. If done early in a unit. I like how it can remain up and visible as the class continues to build knowledge about the topic as well.

I’ve really appreciated this series! As an instructional coach, part of my role is supporting teachers in all areas of instruction – including the instruction that happens in their absence! I’ve passed along a lot of your tips!